Moving in the Right Direction

Holcomb and President Isberg talk 2012 success

The Melfort Mustangs are bringing back Gavin Holcomb for the 2013/2014 season.

The Mustangs Board of Directors announced Tuesday morning that they have exercised the third year option on Holcomb’s contract.

After a rough first season, Holcomb and fans in Melfort have begun to see positives on and off the ice. The Mustangs made the playoffs for the first time in two years and marched their way into the North Division Semi-Final with a sweep of the Battlefords North Stars.

“It boils down to, has the team gotten better?” said Team President Sean Isberg.

“We look at where we started and we didn’t have a whole lot in the cupboard. It’s been a tremendous improvement and that basically makes your decision. Has the team gotten better? And they certainly have.”

After a rough 13 win rookie season behind the bench Holcomb brought in a handful of local talent and parted ways with some long standing Mustangs. The end result was one of the most exciting playoff stretch runs in recent memory.

“Having all that success against Battleford in the first round was fantastic” said Isberg. “Humboldt is a good team and I think we gave them as good of a test as anyone has.”

In 112 games behind the Mustangs bench, Holcomb has a record of 32-68-6-6. As for playoffs, Holcomb sits at .500 with a 4-4 record.

“We feel things have progressed in the right direction” said Holcomb.

“At times we would have liked for it to have happened a little quicker. You always want to be better now but we just stuck with the game plan and we like where things are at right now.”

The Mustangs have 17 players eligible to return to the club in fall and fans should be excited for next season.

“We’re not only excited about the players we have coming back but this time of year you are going out to different camps and recruiting” said Holcomb. “We’re continuing to add pieces that are going to put us in a good spot to start the season.”